The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting and separating oil/gas leaking from an offshore or underwater oil well or underwater oil transporting system. In particular, the invention relates to an oil/gas collector/separator floated over the point of leakage which collects the leaking oil/gas and then separates the gas from the oil.
Contamination of the environment by leakage of oil and/or oil/gas from underwater pipelines and/or oil wells has become a serious problem. Costs to remove oil coming to the surface via leakage from an underwater well or pipeline are tremendous. In addition, the loss of the oil can be in hundreds or thousands of barrels a day, which is a significant loss of a vital natural resource.
The primary efforts expended for oil leakage of the above-mentioned type have been directed to removal of the oil from the surface of the water and decontamination of wildlife and surrounding land as the result of the oil leakage. However, to additionally prevent or reduce the loss of a vital natural resource, oil recovery apparatus can be effective in preventing the contamination caused by oil and oil/gas leakage from underwater pipelines or oil wells. For example, a large number of oil wells are located offshore in deep water and rupture of a well casing, etc., causes the oil/gas to be discharged upwardly under pressure from the oil well, resulting in a loss of oil.
There therefore exists an urgent need for a more rapid and cost effective way to collect and/or recover oil and/or oil/gas discharged from underwater oil wells or oil pipelines.